Systems and methods for controlling a robotic manipulator or associated tool

Abstract

A system comprises a robotic manipulator for control of motion of a medical tool. The robotic manipulator including a joint and a link connected to the joint. The link is configured to connect to the medical tool. A processing unit of the system is configured to receive first data from an encoder of the joint. A first tool tip estimate of a first parameter of a tool tip coupled at a distal end of the medical tool is generated using the first data. The first parameter of the tool tip is a position or a velocity of the tool tip. Second data is received from a sensor system located at a sensor portion of the link or the medical tool. The joint is controlled based on a first difference between the first tool tip estimate and a second tool tip estimate generated using the first and second data.

What is claimed is: 
     
       1. A system comprising:
 a robotic manipulator configured for control of motion of a tool, the robotic manipulator including a joint and a link connected to the joint, wherein the link is configured to connect to the tool; 
 a processing unit including one or more processors, the processing unit configured to:
 receive joint measurement data of the joint; 
 receive load side measurement data from a sensor system located at the link or at the tool; 
 generate a first estimate of a first parameter of the tool using the joint measurement data and load side measurement data; and 
 control the joint based on the first estimate of the tool. 
 
 
     
     
       2. The system of  claim 1 , wherein to generate the first estimate, the processing unit is configured to:
 generate a sensor portion estimate of a first parameter of a sensor portion of the link using the joint measurement data and load side measurement data, wherein the sensor system is located at the sensor portion of the link; and 
 generate the first estimate based on the sensor portion estimate and a dynamic model between the sensor portion and the tool. 
 
     
     
       3. The system of  claim 2 , wherein the sensor portion estimate is generated using a state estimator algorithm selected from the group consisting of a Kalman filter, a particle filter, a nonlinear observer, and an alpha-beta-gamma filter. 
     
     
       4. The system of  claim 1 , wherein the processing unit is further configured to:
 generate a second estimate of a second parameter of the tool using the joint measurement data,
 wherein the first parameter of the tool is one of a position and a velocity of the tool, 
 wherein the second parameter of the tool is the other of the position and the velocity of the tool; 
 
 generate a third estimate of the second parameter of the tool using the joint measurement data and load side measurement data; and 
 control the joint based on the first estimate and a first difference between the second estimate and the third estimate. 
 
     
     
       5. The system of  claim 1 , wherein the joint measurement data includes data associated with at least one of a position and a velocity of the joint. 
     
     
       6. The system of  claim 1 , wherein the load side measurement data includes translational acceleration data and angular velocity data. 
     
     
       7. The system of  claim 1 , wherein the sensor system includes an accelerometer and a gyroscope. 
     
     
       8. The system of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 an actuation assembly coupled to the joint to drive motion of the joint; 
 wherein to control the joint based on the first estimate, the processing unit is configured to:
 generate joint adjustment data based on the first estimate; and 
 generate a control signal based on the joint adjustment data for controlling the actuation assembly. 
 
 
     
     
       9. The system of  claim 8 , wherein the processing unit is configured to:
 generate a second estimate of the first parameter of the tool using the joint measurement data of the joint; 
 generate a difference between the first estimate and the second estimate; and 
 control the joint based on the difference. 
 
     
     
       10. The system of  claim 9 , wherein the joint adjustment data is generated by applying inverse kinematics to the difference. 
     
     
       11. A method comprising:
 receiving joint measurement data of a joint of a robotic manipulator, the robotic manipulator including a link connected to the joint; 
 receiving load side measurement data from a sensor system located at the link or at the tool; 
 generating a first estimate of a first parameter of a tool using the joint measurement data and load side measurement data, wherein the tool is connected to the link; and 
 controlling the joint based on the first estimate of the tool. 
 
     
     
       12. The method of  claim 11 , wherein generating the first estimate includes:
 generating a sensor portion estimate of a first parameter of a sensor portion of the link using the joint measurement data and load side measurement data, wherein the sensor system is located at the sensor portion of the link; and 
 generating the first estimate of the tool based on the sensor portion estimate and a dynamic model between the sensor portion and the tool. 
 
     
     
       13. The method of  claim 12 , wherein the sensor portion estimate is generated using a state estimator algorithm selected from the group consisting of a Kalman filter, a particle filter, and an alpha-beta-gamma filter. 
     
     
       14. The method of  claim 11 , further comprising:
 generating a second estimate of a second parameter of the tool using the joint measurement data,
 wherein the first parameter of the tool is one of a position and a velocity of the tool, and 
 wherein the second parameter of the tool is the other of the position and the velocity of the tool; 
 
 generating a third estimate of the second parameter of the tool using the joint measurement data and load side measurement data; and 
 controlling the joint based on the first estimate and a first difference between the second estimate and the third estimate. 
 
     
     
       15. The method of  claim 11 , wherein the joint measurement data includes data associated with at least one of a position and a velocity of the joint. 
     
     
       16. The method of  claim 11 , wherein the load side measurement data includes translational acceleration data and angular velocity data. 
     
     
       17. The method of  claim 11 , wherein the controlling the joint based on the first estimate further includes:
 generating joint adjustment data based on the first estimate; and 
 generating a control signal based on the joint adjustment data for controlling an actuation assembly coupled to the joint to drive motion of the joint. 
 
     
     
       18. The method of  claim 17 , further comprising:
 generate a second estimate of the first parameter of the tool using the joint measurement data of the joint; 
 generate a difference between the first estimate and the second estimate; and 
 control the joint based on the difference. 
 
     
     
       19. The method of  claim 18 , wherein the joint adjustment data is generated by applying inverse kinematics to the difference. 
     
     
       20. A non-transitory machine-readable medium comprising a plurality of machine-readable instructions which, when executed by one or more processors, are adapted to cause the one or more processors to perform a method comprising:
 receiving joint measurement data of the joint; 
 receiving load side measurement data from a sensor system located at the link or at the tool; 
 generating a first estimate of a first parameter of the tool using the joint measurement data and load side measurement data; and 
 controlling the joint based on the first estimate of the tool.